On October 9th, 1192, King Richard I of England, known as Richard the Lionheart, left the Holy Land, marking the end of the Third Crusade. After three years of conflict with Saladin, the Muslim ruler of Egypt and Syria, both sides agreed to the Treaty of Jaffa. The treaty allowed Christian pilgrims access to Jerusalem but left the city under Muslim control. This compromise came after Richard’s forces captured Acre and achieved victory at Arsuf, but failed to retake Jerusalem.

Richard’s departure came amid growing pressure to return home. His brother John and Philip II of France were threatening his lands in England and Normandy. Traveling incognito through Europe, Richard was captured near Vienna by Duke Leopold of Austria, who held him for ransom. His imprisonment led to one of medieval Europe’s largest ransoms—150,000 marks, nearly twice England’s annual revenue at the time.

Though Richard never saw Jerusalem, his military leadership and negotiations stabilized Christian positions in the region for several years. His departure effectively ended major European involvement in the Holy Land for a time. The Third Crusade failed in its main goal but preserved Christian access to holy sites, setting the stage for later, smaller crusading efforts.

By leaving the Holy Land, Richard closed a costly and inconclusive campaign. His attention turned back to Europe, where his capture and ransom would dominate English politics for the next several years.

On October 9th, 1967, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine-born revolutionary, was executed in Bolivia. Captured the previous day by Bolivian troops assisted by CIA advisors, Guevara’s guerrilla campaign in the Bolivian mountains had failed. His small force had been reduced to a handful of men due to disease, poor local support, and effective military pursuit.

Guevara had left Cuba in 1965 to spread revolutionary movements across Africa and South America. After failed efforts in the Congo, he arrived in Bolivia in 1966 under a false name to train local rebels. However, communication with Cuba was inconsistent, and few Bolivians joined his cause. On October 8th, he was wounded and captured during a firefight near La Higuera.

The next day, the Bolivian government ordered his execution. At 1:10 p.m., Sergeant Mario Terán shot Guevara in a small schoolhouse. His body was displayed publicly in Vallegrande as proof of death before being buried secretly. It was not until 1997 that his remains were located and returned to Cuba.

Guevara’s death ended his direct revolutionary activity but made him an enduring political figure. His image, taken from Alberto Korda’s famous photograph, became one of the most recognizable symbols of revolutionary movements worldwide.

A Hoarders Death🗑️
The Collyer Brothers died buried alive under 140 tons of their own hoarded garbage in their New York mansion. In 1947, police found Homer Collyer dead and searched for his brother Langley for weeks - they finally found him crushed under a pile of newspapers just 10 feet away. Langley had been bringing Homer food but triggered one of his own booby traps and died, leaving blind Homer to slowly starve.

Ota Benga🌳
Ota Benga, a Congolese man, was displayed in the Bronx Zoo's monkey house in 1906. After being brought to America from the Congo, this man was literally exhibited in a zoo alongside apes as an example of "earlier stages of human evolution" - thousands came to gawk at him daily until ministers protested and he was released, but he committed suicide in 1916.

A Segway Death⛰️
The owner of Segway Inc. died by accidentally riding a Segway off a cliff. In 2010, British businessman Jimi Heselden bought the Segway company, then drove a Segway off a cliff into a river and died - the man who owned the "revolutionary safe transportation device" company killed himself with his own product.

Gregori’s Manhood🔪
Grigori Rasputin's penis was supposedly cut off after death and is now in a Russian museum. After his assassination, someone allegedly severed his penis - his daughter claimed it was preserved and it's now displayed in St. Petersburg's Museum of Erotica as a 13-inch specimen in a jar, though DNA testing has never been done to confirm it's actually his.

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